Beer Trade for Others!

Intro/TL;DR

One of the best parts of being a part of the beer community is that, generally, people are very friendly and they want to share a beer with you. And if they can share a beer they LOVE with you, so much the better. And so, I want to organize a large beer trade, with a twist. The traders are all sending to one person with the expectation that a different person will be sending them beer. I invite you to join in by filling out this form and I’ll get organizing.

A closed laptop , covered in stickers, on a table next to a chocolate milk, some berries, some jam, and some wheat thins crackers.

Some Background

I’ve done a few trades in the past. Nothing huge, and never super organized. Just one-offs with friends in other cities to get badly missed beers not in our home markets, or with online only friends to share fun beers. I’ve sent beer out to folks just for fun, or given it to others just to see them smile. It’s fun!

Now, for me, it’s been fun because I go in with no expectations about what someone’s going to send me (or, at least, none for strangers and no big asks from friends), and I don’t worry about making sure the “beer value” matches up. Not just in money spent, but also in “how sought after” and such. If a trading partner wants to consider those things, I am happy to do so, but because things like “how sought after” are so subjective, I find it easier & more fun not to.

That, and I used to live in a beer market that I knew super well and had some very highly sought after beers that were not hard for me to get. So, honestly, I just got to have the fun of being able to send surprises or just share such beers. And I’ve often thrown in something extra (jam, for example) or gotten something extra in my case (oddly, also jam and cool stickers!).

This is the mindset I come to trading with. Do it for fun, do it with a generous heart, and don’t do it for your beer lust or beer hoard.

Let’s Do This!

So, you have the rough idea and thoughts now. Here’s my current plan; if you see holes in it or problems with it, let me know. First, this is open to anyone 21+ in the U.S.S. who wants to trade; you do not have to consider yourself a beer geek. I say U.S. for now because organizing international trades is too much for me right now. Please sign up by end of day 31 July 2016. I will assign who is sending to whom via email by 8 August 2016. Beer should be shipped, with tracking number, by 29 August 2016. Plan to send roughly 72 fluid ounces of beer (a standard six pack’s amount).

A close up shot of four different kinds of glassware each holding a yellow beer.

Some Dos and Don’ts

Everything we do has somethings we have to remember or some etiquette around it, right? So here’s some things you should definitely do and things you should not do.

DO

  • Plan to require an adult signature when you send your package, due to legal age constraints around beer.
  • Plan to provide your signature when you receive your package.
  • Send beers you truly love from your current region.
  • Remember that it is illegal to send beer via USPS.
  • Pack your beer well; remember it’s fragile containers of perishable product.
  • Remember that the sender packed as well as they could; it’s fragile & things happen.
  • Let the sender know what you thought of the beers they picked out.
  • Feel free to send “WHALEZ” but only if you want to send them.
  • Feel free to request a region or beer to receive.
  • Send no more than 72 oz of beer and no less than 48 oz of beer.
  • ENJOY!!

DON’T

  • Do NOT send sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc labeled beer. If you’re not sure if the label might be one of those things, don’t send it. Pick something else. There’s a lot of delicious beer in the world, we can share our beer love without making other people feel terrible.
  • Expect to receive any “WHALEZ,” whether or not you sent any.
  • Grump about having to sign for delivery.
  • Stress out picking just the right beer.
  • Send beer via USPS.
  • Be offended if the recipient doesn’t like the beers you sent; we all have different tastes.
  • Expect to get something (beer or region, for example) just because you requested it; sometimes it’s just not possible.

Finally

This is intended as fun! Sign up and enjoy it! Play along on any social medium you use, if you like. Untappd, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, whatever. Share! I’ll be playing along/sharing on all of the above, using the tag #TT4Others (Twitter Trade For Others).

Thank you!

A very close up shot of a sticker; it's a stylized tuilp glass with the Crux Brewing logo on it.